Public domain photo by Jim Henderson // Creative Commons 1.0
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Today marks the start of Making Menstruation Matter, the 20th conference focusing on menstrual cycle research and women’s health. For 36 years, these conferences have been open to those interested in the latest information on menstrual aspects of women’s lives, from menarche to menopause. Not only scientists, but clinicians, educators, artists, writers, and interested members of the general public have contributed to our discussions and debates.

Since the first conference in 1977, the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research has been working to bring menstruation out of the shadows and to legitimize our concern with how our culture, medical and pharmaceutical industries, advertising, and educational efforts, have served women’s needs (or not).

Over the years, the disciplines involved in our work have broadened to include participants from around the world in fields including nursing and medicine, psychology and sociology, anthropology and communication studies, as well as the arts. The menstrual cycle is entangled in so many aspects of our lives—the personal is truly political!

It is especially appropriate to celebrate today, because we will be awarding the very first “Menstruation Matters Award” to our beloved feminist hero, Gloria Steinem! Her early article, “If Men Could Menstruate“, pointed out the entitlement that men would feel to honor their bodies. Somehow, this normal female experience has been shamed, devalued, and medicalized—girls learn at an early age not to value our amazing bodies. Recent research shows how empowering it can be for girls to get to know their bodies, to chart their cycles, and to trust their own experience.

Pediatricians have begun to recognize that menstruation can been seen as a “vital sign” or indicator of healthy functioning. Absence of menstruation can be related to dietary or exercise practices that will harm bone development in young women, or to other problems of our reproductive systems. Recognizing these problems early is important to preventing future disease or disability.

Menstrual myths are rampant in our social discourse, and it is often difficult for girls and women to know what’s really true about our menstrual cycles:

Questions like these have inspired our research over the years, and discussions of them can be found at conferences like the one beginning this evening. We are always pleased to nurture the research of our students, and we award prizes for student research in memory of some of our founding mothers.

Members of the Society have contributed greatly to healthy practices for women:

  • through advocacy with tampon manufacturers and the FDA to standardize tampon absorbancy labeling;
  • through supporting and participating in the Women’s Health Initiative, research that showed the harmful effects of longterm hormonal therapies for postmenopausal women;
  • through questioning all the negative views of hormonal changes, as if a biological rhythm is somehow unusual in our lives.

More information about positions that the Society has taken on issues such as terminology used for the menopausal transition or use of cycle-stopping hormonal drugs by young women, see the Society’s website, where you can also find information about past conferences, publications, and members of the Society.

And join us, either online, or tonight at Marymount Manhattan College, for the celebration!

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